April 13th, a special for Mei's birthday~
The timeline is set after Raiden Ryoma's imprisonment, when Ryn and Kiana have taken Mei in, and before the Third Honkai War has broken out.
Because of Raiden Ryoma's imprisonment, public opinion of the Raiden family had taken a nosedive, and coupled with the bullying at school... although she insisted on going to school, she usually had to sneak out when Ryn wasn't looking.
This was because Ryn was completely against Mei returning to Senba Academy. Human nature is inherently malicious, and the psychology of middle school students is still developing; not only do they lack empathy, but they also take pleasure in the suffering of others.
Mei had already completed her three years of middle school curriculum. She only went to school because she was a good student and didn't want to break the rules.
Since that was the case, why should Mei have to suffer and endure bullying at school?
Kiana had confidently promised to protect Mei and ensure she wouldn't be bullied.
And now, Kiana, just like Mei, was being forced by Ryn to stay at home. The idiot Kiana had beaten up too many people and was reported by a joint petition, leading to her suspension from school.
It had to be said, the school had some standards. The three teachers in Mei's class had been hung on the wall, cursed at, and beaten by Kiana, yet the school still hadn't expelled her...
If it weren't for the fact that after the last fight, Kiana had heard the bell and ran to class too quickly, not watching where she was going, and crashed into the principal, breaking her ribs...
The school probably would have just ignored all those previous petition letters against Kiana...
In the early morning, at the dining table, Kiana and Mei were eating their meal sullenly. Beside them, Ryn stood with a spatula, eyeing the two as if he would smack anyone who disobeyed.
"That's about enough. What's so appealing about that school? Other kids would kill for a day off, but you two are the complete opposite. You feel uncomfortable if you don't spend a day suffering at school, is that it?"
Mei lowered her head, her face full of worry and fear, and said in a small voice:
"But I didn't even ask for leave... I've been skipping class for several days... I just feel this sense of guilt..."
"Is that so? So Mei feels guilty! I thought you were just disappointed that you couldn't teach those bastards a lesson, like me."
Kiana looked at Mei in surprise, then handed her bowl to Ryn and shouted happily, "Another bowl!"
"Should I just bring the whole rice cooker to you later?"
"Okay!"
"Okay, my ass. Move aside. You eat so much, but your weight doesn't increase and your figure doesn't change. It's a pure waste of food."
Ryn flicked Kiana's forehead, then placed the refilled bowl in front of her.
"You don't get it. All this food has been converted into energy and stored in my personal dimension. When I fight, it will give me a continuous stream of power!"
"Just shut up and eat!"
———————————————
———————————————
After the meal, Kiana went to play video games. Ryn helped Mei with the dishes.
Mei washed the used bowls and chopsticks, then handed them to Ryn to rinse and wipe dry. The two worked in tandem, and the dishes were done quickly.
After they finished, Mei took off her apron and asked Ryn thoughtfully:
"Ryn, if we don't go to school, does that mean we should find jobs and start working?"
"Well... generally speaking, yes, that's how it works."
Ryn nodded. If you're not in school, what else is there to do? Be a deadbeat at home? Actually, that sounded pretty good!
"But we don't play by the rules. People work to earn money for survival necessities. While I might not be as rich as you once were, Mei, I have enough money for the three of us to live a life of leisure for the rest of our days.
It seems you're still bound by the constraints of being a 'good student'... Come on, let's go out and have some fun, relax a little."
"Then wait a moment, I'll go change my clothes..."
"No need, this outfit is fine."
Ryn took Mei's hand, ready to take her out to see the wide world.
As for her clothes, her regular housewife attire was fine. It wasn't like they were going on a date; there was no need to dress up so nicely.
"Kiana, Mei and I are going out for a bit. Are you coming?"
"Hmm..." Kiana tilted her head, hesitating for three seconds between going out and staying home to play games.
"Not going. Remember to bring me back some snacks and desserts. I invited Kika over to play after school."
Ryn and Mei didn't bother to reply, simply slamming the door shut with a *bang* to let Kiana know they heard her.
After leaving the house, they reached Senba Academy in a few minutes.
Upon seeing the school gate, Mei subconsciously wanted to cover her face, afraid of being recognized by the students and subjected to their passive-aggressive remarks again.
But Ryn's pace didn't falter. He took the hand of the slightly scared Mei and led her straight into Senba Academy.
It was now morning class time, and the sound of reading aloud could be heard from the school building.
As a top student, Mei should have been one of them, but now that feeling was a thing of the past.
"Ryn, didn't you say I shouldn't go to school? Why did you bring me to Senba Academy..."
"You seemed too stressed, so we came to do something to relieve that stress~"
"?"
Mei was puzzled and wanted to ask Ryn what he meant.
But she discovered...
Ryn had already led her to the base of the school building.
He fumbled around in his clothes and pulled out a massive megaphone.
Mei was stunned. Although she didn't know how Ryn had hidden such a large megaphone on his person without her noticing, her sixth sense was screaming at her to run!
Ryn took a deep breath, had Cortana hack all the school's cameras and other electronic devices, and turned the megaphone to its maximum volume.
"Listen up, you bunch of idiots at Senba Academy!"
"Ryn!!"
Mei immediately rushed forward to cover Ryn's mouth, but with a flick of his wrist, Ryn grabbed both of her hands.
"You bunch of complete morons with good grades but no manners. Were you raised without parents or a family! Lacking familial companionship, have you forgotten what happiness is?
Finding joy in bullying others every day! Have you ever thought about what it would be like if you were the one being bullied for someone else's amusement!!
And you useless teachers, the kids are ignorant, but are you ignorant too? You do nothing to stop the bullying, you don't care, the whole school ganging up to bully a fifteen-year-old girl!
F*** you all, you pieces of ******..."
Mei lightly covered her mouth, tears of despair or joy streaming from the corners of her eyes. She was so shocked she didn't know what to say...
Ryn bringing her to Senba Academy was already incomprehensible, but Ryn pulling out a megaphone to curse out the entire school was completely beyond her comprehension...
Especially since the Ryn at home, who seemed so gentle and kind... could actually curse at people...
"Hey, you two over there! What do you little bastards think you're doing!!"
A dozen security guards with stun batons ran towards Ryn and Mei, shouting as they came.
"We're done for, the security is here!"
Mei grabbed Ryn and tried to run. If they were caught and sent to the police department, their lives would be completely ruined.
But Ryn had no intention of running. He stood his ground, watching the approaching security guards.
"Ryn? Let's go, we're finished if they catch us!"
"Wait a minute, this crappy school has security? Then why didn't they show up when Kiana was beating people up!"
Ryn was so angry he laughed. He took out two practice bamboo swords from his Stigmata Space.
He pried open Mei's fingers and, despite her frantically shaking her head in protest, placed one in her hand.
"Don't always be limited by common sense. Just like why you insist on going to school, why do we have to run just because we see security? It's not like they have guns~"
Ryn smiled slightly, then moved behind Mei, raised her hand, and swung the sword down forcefully. With a single Suburi strike, he knocked out the fastest guard who was about to reach Mei.
"!!!"
Mei tremblingly turned her head to look at Ryn, pointing at the unconscious guard at her feet in a panic.
"I-I-I killed someone!?"
Ryn pushed Mei aside as a security guard lunged between them. Ryn delivered a knee strike, bending the guard in half like a steel plate.
Then Ryn grabbed Mei, who he had just pushed and was about to fall, and pulled her forcefully into his embrace.
"That's right, Mei, we've killed someone. There's no turning back now, so we can only kill them all. For our future, draw your sword against them, Mei!"
Mei was now on the verge of crying, her face a mess. Her mind was filled with the thought that her life was over. She didn't even notice that she was being held tightly in Ryn's arms.
He had said they were just going for a walk, how did it turn into this ahhh!
"Don't just stand there, go!"
Ryn saw a hesitant security guard and threw Mei, still in his arms, directly at him.
"Good chance!" Seeing that Mei was still crying and not paying attention, the security guard immediately pressed the power button on his stun baton and swung it down at her.
Upward slash, Swallow Reversal.
Two simple moves, executed in one smooth motion.
Mei habitually sheathed her sword and bowed to the unconscious guard on the ground.
"Ahhh! What have I done!!!"
Coming to her senses, Mei immediately screamed out loud. Her actions had been completely subconscious; by the time she realized it, the guard was already unconscious on the ground!!
Mei threw the sword aside, her legs trembling as she collapsed to her knees on the ground.
"It's over, it's over, it's really over this time..."
Seeing Mei had lost her will to fight, the other guards teamed up and charged at her together.
*Crack—*
Ryn transformed into a flash of violet-red light, darting past the dozen guards. He then reappeared beside Mei, scooped her up in a princess carry, and immediately fled the scene.
By the time the dust-covered guards came to their senses, Ryn and Mei were long gone, and the batons and stun sticks in their hands had all been snapped in two.
"They... they ran away?"
"Yeah... they ran..."
"Don't just stand there, call 120 for an ambulance!"
"Huh, my phone has no signal? What's going on..."
"He's still breathing, just knocked out... It's fine, it's fine, a concussion at most..."
"What do we do now, call the police?"
"Senba Academy's security is a police-cooperative... We are the police..."
Upstairs in the school building, Kika, sitting by the window, had a clear view of everything that happened with Ryn, Mei, and the security guards.
"What makes Raiden Mei so special! Why isn't it me in Ryn's arms?"
After saying that, Kika immediately shook her head vigorously, like a rattle drum.
No, no, I can't make a move on my best friend's boyfriend... Kika, you have to believe that your Prince Charming is already on his way!"
——————————————
——————————————
Having escaped from Senba Academy, Ryn and Mei didn't stop running. After all, they were still within the boundaries of Academy City, and if Senba Academy wanted to catch them, they still could.
Finally, after having Cortana create a phantom image of them appearing in another area, Ryn stopped running.
"I killed someone... Ryn, I killed someone..."
Mei's hands tightly gripped the collar of Ryn's shirt, her face tear-streaked, her voice hoarse...
Ryn, feeling a mix of amusement and sympathy, reached out to wipe the tears from the corners of Mei's eyes. Like a devil whispering, he told Mei:
"That's right, we've killed someone. From now on, we can only rely on each other, living as fugitives on the run..."
"Mmm..."
Mei released her grip on Ryn's collar and instead wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her weary head against his chest.
She had resigned herself to her fate. No matter what was said, she had taken action... The only person she could rely on now was Ryn, a fellow fugitive.
Ryn's heart was pounding. The scent emanating from Mei, who was pressed so closely against him, made the teenage Ryn's heart race.
Mei's heart was also pounding. After calming down, she realized she had been in Ryn's arms the entire time, carried by him as they fled.
She looked up at the clumsy yet bold boy before her.
Perhaps it was the camaraderie of being fellow fugitives, or perhaps it was the physiological reaction caused by the suspension bridge effect.
For some reason, Mei now found Ryn to be a little handsome. He seemed to look exactly like the Prince Charming she had imagined.
Mei already had a very high opinion of Ryn, the member of the opposite sex who had taken her in... and now, that favorability had skyrocketed...
Ryn and Mei felt an inexplicable connection, and they couldn't help but look at each other, their eyes reflecting only the other's image...
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... young couples these days! Public morals are truly degenerating! It really makes an old man like me envious!"
An old man leaning on a cane walked past Ryn and Mei. Seeing the two embracing on the street, with eyes only for each other, he couldn't help but make a few comments.
"Ah!" "Whoa..."
Mei and Ryn cried out in surprise at the same time and quickly separated.
Both of them were blushing from their faces to their necks, their minds blank with shyness. They stood back-to-back, waving their hands awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
"Looks like this old man shouldn't have spoken. They were about to kiss. What a pity, what a pity!"
The old man sighed to the heavens, put away his cane with a look of regret, hitched up his trousers, and sprinted away from Ryn and Mei like a hundred-meter dash champion.
Leaving only a sentence hanging in the air: "Young couples shouldn't be so shy! Don't be like this old man, who only learned to cherish what he had after he lost it!!"
Ryn and Mei's minds were still in a daze. They turned to look at each other...
In the end, it was Ryn who couldn't take it anymore. It was the first time a girl other than his mom and Kiana had stared at him for so long...
Ryn's eyes darted everywhere, and he fidgeted, not knowing how to stand or where to put his hands.
"Um... um... actually, those security guards aren't dead, and you didn't kill anyone... It was just a normal bamboo sword, and the force was probably less than what you use when you practice, so they'll have a concussion at most... they won't die."
"Mm... I know..."
Mei quietly continued to watch the flustered boy in front of her. Ever since she heard the old man mention 'couple,' Mei had, for some reason, suddenly entered sage mode and calmed down instantly.
Although her head was still spinning, she understood that Ryn was Kiana's boyfriend, and she shouldn't be thinking about impossible things.
"Let's go... let's go home."
Mei sighed softly and turned to walk in the direction of Ryn's house.
"Coming, coming."
As they walked, Mei suddenly stopped, a thoughtful expression on her face that turned into one of sudden realization as she looked at Ryn.
"Hmm? Mei, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just suddenly understood what you said before." Mei smiled, then happily turned and continued walking.
Her smile was so captivating that it could launch a thousand ships, outshining all other beauties.
Mei's fleeting smile at that moment successfully dug a hole in Ryn's heart and buried itself deep inside.
Ryn followed closely behind Mei like a clumsy little bear, his eyes fixed on the happily skipping girl in front of him.
Suddenly, she stopped again.
Then, she walked to Ryn's side and took his hand.
"What are you still standing there for? Aren't you coming?"
Mei looked at Ryn joyfully, her eyes curving into little crescent moons from happiness.
"Go-go-go... let's go!"
Ryn walked in an uncoordinated, same-arm-same-leg manner, led by Mei.
He had finally processed what was happening. But it was the first time a girl other than his mom and Kiana had held his hand, and it sent his brain into overload.
Mei wasn't faring much better. Although she had bravely taken Ryn's hand, the fact that he didn't resist at all and let her lead him also caused the brain of Mei, who had never touched a boy other than her father, to successfully overload.
The two of them walked with the uncoordinated movements of robots, making their way home.
"Um... are you two being threatened by someone?"
A kind-hearted auntie stood in front of them, blocking their path.
"Is there anything I can help you with? Or do you need me to call the police for you?"
It wasn't just the kind-hearted auntie. Ryn and Mei's strange way of walking had attracted a crowd of people who now surrounded them...
Mei's eyes rolled back, turning into mosquito coils, and she fainted from embarrassment.
Ryn quickly caught the collapsing Mei and once again scooped her up in a princess carry. He then explained to the surrounding people with an apologetic and grateful tone:
"Sorry, sorry, it's nothing, it's nothing... It's just our first date, we're a bit... a bit too nervous..."
"Hahahaha... You don't see such shy young couples much these days!"
Ryn's face was also beet red. He picked up Mei and made a run for it.
On the way, Mei quietly hooked her arm around Ryn's neck and rested her head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat...
A first date... huh...
I'm sure of it now. I like Ryn...
Although I feel a little sorry for Kiana, but...
Why should people be bound by common sense?
Kiana, let's marry Ryn together!